Governance e performance nelle imprese di assicurazioni: un'analisi bibliometrica ed una meta analisi

This paper provides a survey of the literature and empirical research focusing over the wide array of external and internal governance mechanisms and their effectiveness, with respect to performance and risk taking, in the particular setting of the insurance industry, over the period 1985–2019. Using Vosviewer software for a meta-literature mapping we present networks (co-authorship network and co-occurrence network) that identify top authors publishing and influential research streams. We also provide a meta-analysis of around 30 quantitative studies of corporate governance in the insurance sector which consider the relation between quanti-qualitative aspects of board composition and firm performance. The results show that in general there is a common evidence in the literature on the positive contribution of the size of the board and of the presence of independent directors on firm performance, variously measured. The networks in the insurance field of study appear not well connected, especially in relation to studies on emerging markets. This study might represent a starting point for possible future research lines aimed at clarifying the peculiarities of the governance-performance relationship in the insurance industry within a modified market and policy setting.